E86 – Chris Wrightson Talks Big Chandeleur Island Speckled Trout

Former Coast Guardsman took the entrepreneurial leap to become a Chandeleur Island charter captain. Now he puts clients on huge Chandeleur speckled trout!

Chandeleur Island Fishing Experience

Chris Wrightson was born in Morgan City and raised in Westwego. He’s a Louisiana boy!

He got his love of inshore fishing from his grandfather. They’d go all over Louisiana from Port Sulphur, Grand Isle, Myrtle Grove, and Bayou Segnette.

After high school he joined the Coast Guard and did his time serving our country there.

Then, after he got out of the Coast Guard, he worked as a deckhand on a mothership going to the Chandeleur Islands, but now he owns and operates his own outfit.

Worst Fishing Trip

Chris had a crane break on the mothership while winching a boat up. The boat went crashing to the water and it happened in front of everyone!

To make it worse, it was the very first charter for his brand new company. It takes fortitude to march through an experience like that and come out successful on the other side.

Fishing Smarter

He never really used artificial lures until he saw anglers targeting huge speckled trout with topwater lures. So Chris started using a topwater strategy to target big slab, Chandeleur island speckled trout! These trout are huge!

How to Fish the Chandeleur Islands

Chris recommends targeting sand pockets in the submerged aquatic grass that lines the west side of the Chandeleur.

Additional cover like sunken boats are also good to target. He went diving on a sunken shrimp boat and saw it was covered in flounder!

Of course, you can call him to get some advice on where to go and what to do.